55 Best Movies On Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime offers its subscribers a bottomless treasure trove of streaming content, from daring and critically acclaimed original movies to Hollywood classics to the kind of international and independent gems that are often easy to miss. The only problem with this kind of immense catalog is that it can be a little intimidating, especially if you don't already have a genre in mind. So we're here to help by offering you a list of their best 55 films you can stream right now.

We've rounded up a little bit of everything — we have broad tastes, and we assume you do too — and narrowing it down was hard work. This is far from everything you might want to watch on Prime, but these are our favorites, and they're a great place to get started. Here's our road map for navigating one of the biggest streaming catalogs around.

Engrossing and visually stunning, "1917" immerses its audiences in the chaos and grimness of World War I. Young soldiers William Schofield and Tom Blake are tasked with carrying a key message — one calling off a doomed attack that would result in a horrifying loss of life — through dangerous territory. Blake is especially motivated to get through since his own brother could be a casualty if the attack goes forward. The "single take" cinematic technique showcases impressive technique, making this one of the most stylish war films ever made.

• Starring: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong

• Director: Sam Mendes

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 119 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

American backpackers David and Jack make the mistake of straying into the Yorkshire moors on the night of a full moon. And unfortunately, there's a werewolf on the prowl. David survives the mysterious attack, but he's haunted by a ghostly, rotting, darkly funny Jack, who warns David that his injuries mean he's infected with the werewolf's curse. At the next full moon, David will turn into an uncontrollable monster. David, now pursuing a romance with his former nurse, doesn't want to believe any of this — but he's soon faced with the worst kind of evidence. "An American Werewolf in London" skillfully juggles bleakness, horror, and humor, and its impressive makeup and transformation effects are the icing on the cake.

• Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne

• Director: John Landis

• Year: 1981

• Runtime: 97 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

"The Big Sick" starts out like a cute romantic comedy, but unexpected turns along the way give it additional richness and complexity as well as laughs. Stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani's adorable relationship with his girlfriend, Emily, comes to a messy and abrupt end when he admits that different cultural expectations might always keep them apart: His parents still expect him to marry a Pakistani girl. But when Emily winds up hospitalized and comatose due to a mysterious illness, Kumail realizes he can't stand to lose her. He even starts developing an unusual relationship with her parents as the three of them wait for any sign that Emily's condition is improving.

• Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter

• Director: Michael Showalter

• Year: 2017

• Runtime:

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Twisty and stylish, "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" is an early and influential giallo film. Giallo movies feature inventive gore, beautiful visuals, heavy atmosphere, and elaborate mysteries, and if you haven't encountered the genre before, this is a great introduction to it. The story follows Sam, an American whose stay in Rome gets an unfortunate extension when he witnesses a brutal attack. He's drawn into the investigation of a string of serial murders currently plaguing Rome, but he can't predict where the search will lead him — or how much it will endanger him and his girlfriend, Julia.

• Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno

• Director: Dario Argento

• Year: 1970

• Runtime: 96 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

This charming, low-key documentary immerses you in the world of rare books until you can practically smell the musty paper. The film takes a look at a handful of small shops specializing in rare and antiquarian books (and vintage advertisements, indie magazines from the early days of hip-hop, maps, kitsch, and more), exploring why the sellers and their customers are so drawn to this business, how you can make a living at it, and how the rare books world has changed over the years. Partly a tour of bookshops you'll long to visit and partly a look at cultural tradition and cultural evolution, "The Booksellers" is both informative and irresistibly likable.

• Director: D.W. Young

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 98 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Ex-con Corky is making ends meet via handyman work, and the job introduces her to the slinky, soft-voiced Violet, a modern-day gangster's moll to Mafia middleman Caesar. Violet's relationship with Caesar is a job to her, not a romance — Corky is the one she's really interested in. As the two fall in love, they hatch a risky scheme to free Violet from Caesar and rake in plenty of cash in the process. This is both a masterfully handled, self-aware noir and a passionate love story, with clever plotting and plentiful chemistry to make both halves of the equation as compelling as possible.

• Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano

• Directors: The Wachowskis

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 108 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" manages to be both sprightly and bittersweet. While it's marred by the ugly inclusion of Mickey Rooney in yellowface, the core of the film — the complex and emotionally tentative relationship between fashionable but poor Holly Golightly and her neighbor, struggling writer Paul Varjak, who compromise themselves and their romance to keep their heads above water — remains magnetic. Paul and Holly develop feelings for each other, but can they risk having a relationship that might end their chance at a carefree existence? Audrey Hepburn is unforgettable as the charming, spirited, and secretly vulnerable Holly.

• Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal

• Director: Blake Edwards

• Year: 1961

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Years ago, defense attorney Sam Bowden secretly worked against his own client, the viscerally sadistic Max Cady. He was so horrified by Cady's crime and his arrogant lack of remorse that he deliberately weakened Cady's defense. Now Cady is free, and he's on a mission to burn Sam's life to the ground. He stakes out Sam's home, kills his dog, attacks his colleague, and even insinuates himself into his teenage daughter's life — and he's clever enough and capable enough to make it nearly impossible for Sam and his family to stop him. "Cape Fear" combines its shocks with a powerful Southern Gothic atmosphere and adds a killer Robert De Niro performance as the cherry on top.

• Starring: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange

• Director: Martin Scorsese

• Year: 1991

• Runtime: 128 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74%

"Carnival of Souls" is about as eerie, haunting, and strangely beautiful as horror films get, and its surrealism and masterful black-and-white cinematography bring new life to a classic premise. This dreamlike narrative follows Mary, who escapes a car wreck and sets out to begin her new life ... only to find herself beset by strangeness. A pale, uncanny man keeps following her. Sometimes she seems to drop out of reality, with other people not acknowledging her at all. She has trances and nightmarish visions. Is there something supernatural going on, or is it all in her head?

• Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger

• Director: Herk Harvey

• Year: 1962

• Runtime: 82 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

Reggie Lampert and her husband, Charles, were on the verge of divorce, but then he's murdered — plunging her into a high-stakes mystery. It turns out Charles and his friends stole a fortune during the war, and then Charles made off with it all. Now the remaining men are determined to find the money, and they're convinced Reggie must have it somewhere. She starts relying on — and falling for — the debonair Peter Joshua, who's helping her out ... but he has secrets of his own. "Charade" provides plenty of fun twists and turns while anchoring it all in the sparkling chemistry between Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.

• Starring: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau

• Director: Stanley Donen

• Year: 1963

• Runtime: 113 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

This thriller centers on Harry Caul, an introverted surveillance technician whose expertise in bugging and wiretapping has ratcheted up his personal paranoia, and the human cost that's sometimes involved with his job has made him miserable with guilt. When he takes on his most ambitious job yet, he comes away with a recording where the key line — "He'd kill us if he had the chance" — seems to promise more of the violence and tragedy Caul is anxious to avoid. It's difficult to back out, however, when his client's office is applying so much pressure. Ambiguity, exquisite tension, and finely crafted characterization make "The Conversation" a classic.

• Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield

• Director: Francis Ford Coppola

• Year: 1974

• Runtime: 113 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Jeff Bridges offers a weary, empathetic, and complex portrayal of a broken-down country star in "Crazy Heart." "Bad" Blake's one-time success has faded, leaving him scraping by on small-time gigs. An unexpected connection with music journalist Jean and her young son inspires him to engage more with life, but it's easier to make career changes than it is to deal with the drinking that's slowly wrecking his life. Watching Blake reckon with his past and present and take tentative steps towards a workable future is a deeply poignant experience.

• Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell

• Director: Scott Cooper

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 112 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

This meditative historical drama zooms in on a handful of people whose disrupted lives are never quite put back together again. When steelworker Bill needs to flee Chicago, he takes his sister, Linda, and girlfriend, Abby, with him. It's 1916, and Bill and Abby can't live together without attracting attention, so they claim to be brother and sister — which means Abby soon catches a farmer's eye. Bill hatches a plan to turn the farmer's interest to their collective advantage, but it's not likely to go smoothly. "Days of Heaven" beautifully captures the Texas countryside, and its simple story serves as the backbone for some real cinematic poetry.

• Starring: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard

• Director: Terrence Malick

• Year: 1978

• Runtime: 93 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Sarah is still grief-stricken and emotionally raw after the shocking deaths of her husband and daughter, but she's trying to ease back into her life. She and her friends decide to explore a cave system none of them have visited before. They're all adventurous, experienced, and athletic, and this is just beginner's-level spelunking, so what could go wrong? The first few prickles of unease come when the cave is much more challenging than advertised ... and then a collapsing tunnel leaves them cut off from any easy exit. To make matters worse, claustrophobia, isolation, and gaping chasms aren't the only dangers waiting for them. There's something else in the dark too. This is a brutally effective horror film with a great premise and a relentless pace.

• Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid

• Director: Neil Marshall

• Year: 2005

• Runtime: 98 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

"Edward Scissorhands" is a quirky fairy tale with gorgeous, eccentric visuals and a dark whimsy all its own. The lonely, off-kilter Edward was left unfinished by his maker, still with scissor blades instead of hands. When he's brought into a kind of alternate suburbia — where he pines for the teenage Kim — it goes better than expected ... until jealousy, lies, and fear of the outsider make the townspeople start to turn against him. It's an unusual and moving romantic fantasy, and Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder make Edward and Kim into one of the top Gothic couples in movies.

• Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Michael Hall

• Director: Tim Burton

• Year: 1990

• Runtime: 104 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

We never tire of good Jane Austen adaptations, and this 2020 version of "Emma" brings a lot of color, energy, and charm to its familiar story. Emma Woodhouse has everything she wants in life — ostensibly — so she can't resist a little well-intentioned meddling in the lives of the less fortunate, especially her lower-status friend Harriet. Unfortunately, Emma misunderstands several crucial details ... and misses the fact that she has fallen in love with her old friend, Mr. Knightley. Witty and insightful, this new take on "Emma" is excellent fun.

• Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Mia Goth

• Director: Autumn de Wilde

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 124 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Edward Norton plays an unnamed character whose polished, successful life leaves him fundamentally unsatisfied and in search of something that feels more "real." His life changes when he meets the charismatic Tyler Durden, a trickster-like figure who seems to have all the clarity the narrator lacks. Tyler's ethos of cathartic violence leads to the invention of Fight Club, where men regularly meet for bare-knuckle brawls. Soon, though, Tyler starts building Fight Club up into something more — the dangerous terrorist group Project Mayhem. Gripping, memorable, and often wickedly funny, "Fight Club" deserves its iconic status.

• Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter

• Director: David Fincher

• Year: 1999

• Runtime: 139 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Often delightfully funny and sometimes exquisitely painful, "Funny Girl" showcases Barbra Streisand at her best. It's impossible to look away from her as she brings real-life star Fanny Brice to life with plenty of humor and charm. This musical biopic tells the story of Fanny's evolution from an in-over-her-head vaudeville performer to someone whose supposedly show-ruining goofs could win an audience's hearts. Soon enough, she's a major Broadway sensation. Her rise to fame is accompanied by a tumultuous relationship with her eventual husband, Nicky Arnstein, who we know from the start of the film will wind up spending some time behind bars — and put a serious dent in Fanny's heart.

• Starring: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford

• Director: William Wyler

• Year: 1968

• Runtime: 148 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Lisbeth Salander, a hacker and social outsider, teams up with Mikael Blomkvist, a talented but disgraced journalist, to investigate a long-ago disappearance that's really a probable murder. Unearthing the dark history of the wealthy Vanger family means dealing with a legacy of Nazi sympathies, brutality, and the abuse of women — and not all of it is safely in the past. The mystery is grim and complex, the setting is vivid, and Lisbeth in particular immediately feels like an iconic character.

• Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre

• Director: Niels Arden Oplev

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 152 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Dark, lush, and gorgeously photographed, "The Handmaiden" is an erotic thriller it's impossible to forget. Petty thief Sook-hee agrees to take part in a terrible con: She'll take a job as maid to the sheltered, wealthy Hideko and nudge her towards marrying a man who secretly plans to have her committed so he can take control of all her money. Sook-hee and Hideko fall into an unexpected, intense relationship, however — and that's not the only complication here. There are twists within twists and plans within plans, making this gothic romance as labyrinthine as it is satisfying.

• Starring: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo

• Director: Park Chan-wook

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 145 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Legendary director Paul Thomas Anderson hits the ground running with "Hard Eight," his feature film debut. Sydney Brown is a weary gentleman gambler whose life is a series of casinos and hotel rooms. When he meets down-on-his-luck John Finnegan, he quickly takes him under his wing and begins treating him like a kind of surrogate son — even gently finessing John's relationship with Clementine, a cocktail waitress and sex worker. John and Clementine quickly get in serious trouble, however, and they need Sydney to bail them out ... a rescue that winds up revealing part of Sydney's past he's been trying to keep buried. Strong performances and a dramatic, noir-tinged plot make this a great introduction to a major director.

• Starring: Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow

• Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 101 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

High school can be murder. Veronica Sawyer is right at the top of her school's social pyramid, just beneath the tyrannical Heather Chandler and just alongside also-rans Heather McNamara and Heather Duke. Popularity is losing some of its allure, however, and she finds herself drawn to unconventional, loose-cannon bad boy J.D. Dean. She soon finds out that her new boyfriend's plans for pushing back against the high school establishment include murder: He wants to kill all the Heathers and the bullying jocks, making their deaths look like suicides. "Heathers" is a daring and viciously funny black comedy that completely deserves its cult status.

• Starring: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty

• Director: Michael Lehmann

• Year: 1989

• Runtime: 103 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

"Hidden Figures" is a lively and engaging historical film that celebrates the crucial but frequently minimized contributions that Black female mathematicians like Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan made to the space program. The three "human computers" wind up playing a key role in a successful launch, but they have to fight tooth and nail to have their voices heard in an atmosphere of intense, institutionalized racism and sexism. The movie chronicles their struggles and triumphs, giving an enriching view of scientific history without stinting on entertainment.

• Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monaé

• Director: Theodore Melfi

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 126 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

A good reporter can't leave a good story behind. Newspaper editor Walter Burns knows that, and in this witty, lively movie full of rat-a-tat dialogue, he uses this fact to get back together with his ex-wife, newswoman Hildy Johnson. Hildy's supposed to be married in the morning, but — hooked by the irresistible lure of the job — she can't get herself to abandon her investigative reporting to catch her train. (She also can't get herself to love her staid new fiancé more than the charismatic ex she can't stop bickering with.) Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant have unbeatable chemistry, and they put off enough sparks to make this easily one of the best romantic comedies of all time.

• Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy

• Director: Howard Hawks

• Year: 1940

• Runtime: 96 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%

This lustrous black and white film starts with Anna, a Polish orphan raised in a convent and now ready to take her vows. She has one known relative, however — Aunt Wanda, a former prosecutor who fought in the Resistance against the occupying Nazis — and the convent believes she needs to connect with this part of her life before she decides to give it up. When she meets Wanda, she learns that her birth name was actually Ida, she's Jewish, and both her parents and aunt suffered horribly during World War II. Ida has to choose how to reach out to the newly revealed past and to the larger historical understanding of living in the aftermath of mass tragedy.

• Starring: Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik

• Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

• Year: 2013

• Runtime: 82 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

After a job goes disastrously wrong, hitmen Ray — young, impulsive, and openly emotional — and Ken — seasoned, laidback, and courtly — are sent to hide out in Bruges. Ken is happy to play tourist for a while, but Ray doesn't care about Bruges' history or beauty: He's jittery and unhappy, and he wants out. While Ray flits around the city trying to find some kind of distraction to alleviate his inner turmoil, Ken finally gets orders from his boss, Harry ... only to realize he doesn't want to follow them. "In Bruges" is tense, funny, painful, violent, and philosophical, all at once.

• Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes

• Director: Martin McDonagh

• Year: 2008

• Runtime: 107 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

"It's a Wonderful Life" is a Christmas movie masterpiece — heartfelt, perfectly acted, and full of a surprising darkness that makes its essential hopefulness and good cheer resonate even more. The film tells the story of George Bailey, who spends years longing for travel and adventures. However, George's responsibilities to others keep him in a shabby but cozy life in Bedford Falls, as he's the only one who can stand up to Mr. Potter, the town's wealthy, cold-hearted bully. Then one night, George's life comes crashing down around him, making him genuinely think everyone would be better off if he'd never been born. It takes his eccentric guardian angel, Clarence, to prove otherwise.

• Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

• Director: Frank Capra

• Year: 1946

• Runtime: 125 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

This atmospheric, intense, and unusual vampire film grounds its horror in a believable relationship that's as unsettling as it is poignant. The lonely and bullied Oskar finds solace in his budding friendship with Eli, who moves into the apartment next door. But Eli's "guardian" is actually responsible for keeping Eli stocked with human blood — and Eli grows hungry and desperate without him. Eli and Oskar can potentially solve each other's problems, but their increasing closeness and interdependence comes with its own implicit costs. The movie knows exactly when to go for subtlety and when to allow for some stunning (and violent) catharsis.

• Starring: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar

• Director: Tomas Alfredson

• Year: 2008

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"The Fellowship of the Ring" begins a genre-defining fantasy epic with a sweeping focus and plenty of grandeur, adventure, and emotional impact. Frodo Baggins comes into possession of his uncle's mysterious ring, which turns out to have a dangerous — even apocalyptic — power. Dark forces are already amassing to try to claim it, and the ring has a corrupting influence all its own. Frodo might be the only person who can resist its allure long enough to see it destroyed for good, but he has a fellowship of friends and warriors to protect and accompany him on his journey ... but how long can they survive, and how long can they stay together? The result is one of the all-time fantasy films, with a stirring score from Howard Shore, expert direction from Peter Jackson, and a gorgeous, frightening, fantastic world beautifully adapted from the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien.

• Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen

• Director: Peter Jackson

• Year: 2001

• Runtime: 178 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

This tart Jane Austen adaptation brings us a ruthless, socially savvy Regency-era antiheroine: Lady Susan Vernon, a widow who is willing to lie, manipulate, and cheat her way to a life of her choosing. Her poor daughter, the shy Frederica, is just a pawn in her schemes, as Lady Susan pushes her to marry a wealthy but foolish man she can't respect. Lady Susan schemes her way through her genteel world, casually ensnaring the honorable but naïve Reginald DeCourcy (who's far better-suited to Frederica) but constantly working to get back to her married lover. It's hard to like Lady Susan, but it's impossible not to be entertained by her and the trouble she creates.

• Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel

• Director: Whit Stillman

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 93 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

It's easy for sound design — distinct from a film's score — to vanish into the background, but it can be critical to a film's meaning, mood, and aims. "Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound" calls attention to the techniques that help our favorite movies have such an impact. For example, it'll help you hear the wild animal roars that enliven the jets in "Top Gun." This appreciative, illuminating documentary covers the rich history of sound in movies, and it features interviews with landmark sound designers like Walter Murch, as well as with top directors like Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Ryan Coogler, and David Lynch. This is an essential documentary for movie fans.

• Director: Midge Costin

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 94 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

The wrenching "Manchester by the Sea" deals with personal tragedies — some of which the characters can overcome, and some of which may always hang over them. Lee works as a handyman, far away from his hometown, and while we aren't certain why, he seems to be haunted by pain and grief. So when his brother dies and Lee is left as guardian to his teenage nephew, Patrick, Lee doesn't know if he's up for it. Patrick is attached to his hometown and doesn't want to move, but the place looms large and dark in Lee's past. He wants to figure out what's best for Patrick, but he doesn't know if he can ever build a life there again. Powerful performances make this hit especially hard.

• Starring: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams

• Director: Kenneth Lonergan

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 137 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Framed for blowing up the Kremlin and causing an international incident, IMF agent Ethan Hunt once again winds up having to work without the full support of his agency. The Impossible Missions Force has been shuttered and officially disavowed, but Ethan and his fledgling team still have to track down some rogue nuclear codes and make sure they don't wind up causing World War III. It's an intimidating task that "Ghost Protocol" uses as the deliciously high-tension excuse for incredible stunts, action sequences, creative cons, and cool (if not always reliable) technology. This is smart, funny, and well-paced action movie that will keep you glued to the screen.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg

• Director: Brad Bird

• Year: 2011

• Runtime: 132 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

From the wonderfully twisted mind of "Parasite's" Bong Joon-ho, this dark and strikingly powerful crime drama explores how far a mother will go to protect her child. The mother in question is barely scraping by, and the only real light in her life is her beloved son, Do-joon, whose intellectual disability often gets him teased and ostracized — and helps make him an easy scapegoat. When Do-joon is accused of murder and manipulated into confessing, the town is quick to accept that he's to blame, but his mother is determined to prove his innocence. Her quest soon takes her into sordid and painful territory where there are no easy answers.

• Starring: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo

• Director: Bong Joon-ho

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 129 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

An all-star cast, a sumptuous setting, and one of Agatha Christie's most brilliant mystery plots all combine to make 1974's "Murder on the Orient Express" a lasting classic. The film takes legendary detective Hercule Poirot on an eventful train journey — one featuring the violent death of a difficult American businessman who, Poirot's investigation soon reveals, was hiding a dark past. His old sins led to more than a few lasting enmities, and it's up to Poirot to untangle who may have finally acted on their hatred. Solving the mystery, however, could be easier than deciding what to do next ....

• Starring: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman

• Director: Sidney Lumet

• Year: 1974

• Runtime: 127 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Elderly alcoholic Woody Grant just wants to get to Nebraska to collect the prize money that will make him a millionaire, but he keeps refusing to realize what his family is trying to tell him: The letter informing him of his newfound wealth is really just junk mail. His stubborn determination leads to a lengthy road trip that will bring up old tensions and resentments both in and out of the family. "Nebraska" is a delicately powerful look at the complex and sometimes troubled relationship between an aging, difficult father and his adult sons.

• Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb

• Director: Alexander Payne

• Year: 2013

• Runtime: 114 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Even after decades of zombie films, "Night of the Living Dead" remains definitive. This eerie, nervy black-and-white film looks at what happens when the dead suddenly begin to return. These reanimated corpses may be slow and shambling, but they're also numerous, fearless, and all-too-capable of tearing the living to shreds ... especially when people are too paralyzed with fear to move. A group of survivors led by the quick-thinking, cool-headed Ben take refuge in a farmhouse to try to survive, but the danger — both supernatural and all-too-real — still surrounds them.

• Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Marilyn Eastman

• Director: George A. Romero

• Year: 1968

• Runtime: 95 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"On Golden Pond" rounds up an outstanding cast for a nuanced, emotionally rich family drama that tackles aging, weakening memory, problems between parents and their adult children, and healing and forming family bonds. Retired Ethel and Norman Thayer always spend their summers at Golden Pond, but this may be their last year there together: Norman's health and memory are in decline. However, he gets an unexpected chance to mend fences with his daughter, Chelsea — and they get the even-more-unexpected chance to connect with her new stepson.

• Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda

• Director: Mark Rydell

• Year: 1981

• Runtime: 109 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The intense and electric "One Night in Miami..." takes place on the night Muhammad Ali became the heavyweight champion of the world. Afterwards, Ali joins Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown for a supposed party that turns out to be more of a discursive — and sometimes heated — discussion about Black life and success in America. Political and personal tensions can run high, especially when it comes to the question of how openly to challenge the white establishment, but the night also reveals the respect the men have for each other. This window into the fictionalized history of an actual event is a fantastic actor's showcase for the four outstanding leads.

• Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge

• Director: Regina King

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 115 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

An unlikely team-up between a con artist and a tough, precocious little girl is at the heart of "Paper Moon," which is unsentimental but tender. It's the Great Depression, and 9-year-old Addie is an orphan in need of a ride to her aunt's house. Shiftless Moze agrees to take her there, but when he uses it as a chance to get $200 for the task, Addie insists that she deserves the money. Soon after, she proves herself a more-than-capable assistant in Moze's cons, and the two bond — even if they technically shouldn't. Young Tatum O'Neal's performance is incredibly naturalistic, and she makes Addie an unforgettable character.

• Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn

• Director: Peter Bogdanovich

• Year: 1973

• Runtime: 102 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Paterson" is a beautiful, tender, and quietly funny slice-of-life film all about creativity, marriage, and the routines of an ordinary week. Paterson is a bus driver and poet who lives in Paterson, New Jersey — the home of William Carlos Williams, his favorite poet. He lives a simple but contented life, drinking in the details of the world around him. He's deeply in love with his wife, Laura, whose own artistic tendencies are less settled but vividly manifested in a signature black and white aesthetic. Eventually, we'll discover that this week does feature a couple of big events for Paterson, but the big events aren't the point. This is all about the peaceful happiness of appreciating your day-to-day life.

• Starring: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, William Jackson Harper

• Director: Jim Jarmusch

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 118 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

In England in the 1980s, striking miners are attracting a lot of hate and bad publicity. Activist Mark Ashton decides that the gay and lesbian community of the time can relate to what they're facing, and he spearheads an attempt to get support for the miners — many of whom are surprised (and not necessarily thrilled) about where their new influx of donations is coming from. A faction of the miners, however, grow close to their new supporters, and they all form a real bond with each other. "Pride" is a heartwarming slice of real-life history, one with genuine affection for its characters and a sharp understanding of a nation in transition.

• Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West

• Director: Matthew Warchus

• Year: 2014

• Runtime: 120 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Cecilia has an unhappy life. The country is in the midst of the Great Depression, and it seems like no real relief is in sight. Movies are her only escape, and her favorite is the romantic adventure-comedy "The Purple Rose of Cairo," where the dashing archaeologist hero can distract her from her abusive home life — and then, one day, he walks out of the screen to greet her. With the border between reality and cinematic fantasy suddenly permeable, Cecilia is whisked away to a better life, but it's one that offers its own challenges and dilemmas. This is clever, heartfelt metafiction with an obvious love for the movies.

• Starring: Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello

• Director: Woody Allen

• Year: 1985

• Runtime: 82 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Shane" is an iconic version of the classic Western story of a stranger who rides into town and cleans up trouble. When the wandering Shane takes up work as a farmhand, he seems to be leaving his gunfighting past behind him. He knows the increasingly more settled West needs peace to move forward. Unfortunately, that peace isn't there just yet, and if Shane wants to defend the family he's started working for — and especially the young boy, Joey, who admires him — he'll have to take on a cutthroat rancher who wants the whole valley for himself. A beautifully shot Wyoming landscape and some emotionally realistic relationships ensure the movie's classic status.

• Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin

• Director: George Stevens

• Year: 1953

• Runtime: 118 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

When brutal Cold War paranoia meets a romantic fantasy spin on "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," you get Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water." Mute cleaner Elisa works at a government lab that's holding and experimenting upon an amphibious man. Elisa pities him, and the two form an unusual bond that only grows deeper and more passionate once she helps him escape the lab — but it's hard to make a clean getaway when the violent, unpredictable Colonel Strickland is trying to track them down. Del Toro makes this unusual setup into an intense and heartfelt look at the bonds that can form between people the world dismisses as misfits.

• Starring: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins

• Director: Guillermo del Toro

• Year: 2017

• Runtime: 123 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels brings a head full of bad memories with him to the isolated, rocky Shutter Island, home of a hospital for the criminally insane. He's there to locate missing patient Rachel Solando, but every clue he follows leads him deeper into mystery, conspiracy, and paranoia. Is the hospital staff lying to him? Are they trying to make him lose his grip on reality? Is Shutter Island home to sinister secret experiments? And can flashback-prone, migraine-suffering Teddy — still grappling with personal anger and grief — trust his own mind? Portentous, suspenseful, and full of dread, "Shutter Island" has both style and weight.

• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

• Director: Martin Scorsese

• Year: 2010

• Runtime: 138 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%

FBI trainee Clarice Starling is unexpectedly pulled into the frantic hunt for "Buffalo Bill," a serial killer who kidnaps, murders, and skins women. She's tasked with interviewing the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter — brilliant, terrifying, and fond of cannibalizing his victims — to see if he can point them in the right direction. Lecter is willing to help but only at a price: He has certain demands, and one of them is hearing about Clarice's painful past. The stellar performances of Foster and Hopkins — and the intense, unsettling rapport between their characters — make this unforgettable. While the Buffalo Bill plot contains certain transphobic elements, overall this is a compelling and powerful thriller that straddles the line between mystery and horror.

• Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn

• Director: Jonathan Demme

• Year: 1991

• Runtime: 118 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

When MI6 itself becomes a target, James Bond takes on the intense, high-stakes assignment of finding the man responsible: Raoul Silva, an embittered former agent with an extremely personal grudge against M. Thanks to Silva's expertise with cyberterrorism, Bond is at a disadvantage in the highly wired London, which means his best chance at protecting M lies in his old family manor in Scotland. With its gorgeous cinematography, "Skyfall" is one of the most visually dazzling Bond films, and it's also one of the most involving, with a stacked cast of charismatic actors, including some who offer fresh takes on familiar franchise roles like Q and Moneypenny. The film's biggest strength, however, is the complex and deeply felt relationship with Bond and M.

• Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench

• Director: Sam Mendes

• Year: 2012

• Runtime: 143 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

A long stagecoach journey from Arizona to New Mexico is guaranteed to be uncomfortable, especially when it involves crowding too many people — with too many differences — into a very small space. There's a meek salesman, a drunken doctor, an outcast saloon girl, an Army officer's wife, a homespun stagecoach driver, a friendly outlaw, a marshal, a corrupt banker, and a Southern gambler. "Stagecoach" doesn't just put them all together, it takes them through dangerous territory, as they're unwanted travelers over Apache land. The high stakes make the bonding, comedy, drama, and sweet romance all the more compelling.

• Starring: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine

• Director: John Ford

• Year: 1939

• Runtime: 95 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

The propulsive zombie movie "Train to Busan" starts with Seok-woo agreeing to take his young daughter to the titular city so she can celebrate her birthday with her mother, who's been a much more reliable presence in her life than her work-obsessed father. But a zombie outbreak turns their train trip into a nightmare, and the passengers must band together if they want to survive. The movie develops a vivid ensemble cast, makes the most of its confined setting, and never lets up on the gas. It all adds up to an inventive, bloody, and surprisingly heartfelt film.

• Starring: Gong Yoo, Kim Su-an, Ma Dong-seok

• Director: Yeon Sang-ho

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 117 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Funny, bittersweet, and thoughtful, "Up in the Air" looks at modern life from an unusual angle. Ryan Bingham travels light. He has a corporate consulting job — tactfully handling layoffs and terminations individual companies don't want to deal with — that keeps him constantly crisscrossing the country, and that's the way he likes it. He loves his glossy, transient life of flights and hotels, but he has to reconsider it when the dogged but inexperienced Natalie begins advocating for Ryan to do his work over video calls. While Ryan gives Natalie a crash course in the human element, he has to figure out what to do with the sudden threat (and intriguing promise) of permanence.

• Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick

• Director: Jason Reitman

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 109 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Agent Kujan has a destroyed ship and 27 dead bodies to explain, and the only man who can give him answers is wily low-level con man Verbal Kint. As Kujan interrogates Verbal, we see what led to that carnage at the docks: Five career criminals are rounded up for a lineup, and they're annoyed by it enough to rip off a corrupt unit with the NYPD. One thing leads to another, and soon, they're working a much grimmer job together — for the legendary crime lord Keyser Söze, everyone's worst nightmare, who may have a hidden purpose for them. "The Usual Suspects" is taut, tense, and cleverly constructed, and it all leads up to one of the best thriller endings ever.

• Starring: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri

• Director: Bryan Singer

• Year: 1995

• Runtime: 106 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

A brilliant little indie film that plays like an episode of "The Twilight Zone," "The Vast of Night" takes place in a 1950s town out in the middle of New Mexico. While most everyone's busy watching the high school basketball game, radio DJ Everett and operator Fay hear strange things over the phone lines and receiving unsettling calls. Soon enough, they get the creeping suspicion that maybe there's something out there in the sky. But as they dig deeper and deeper into the world of UFOs and alien lore, they're faced with a series of unsettling questions. If there really are otherworldly visitors, how long have they been there? What do they want? And what can Everett and Fay do about it? Rich on creepy atmosphere, "The Vast of Night" ratchets up the tension until the truth simply can't be denied.

• Starring: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer

• Director: Andrew Patterson

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: PG-13

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Artistic success comes at a steep price — at least, that's what the exacting and bullying Terence Fletcher wants everyone to believe. As a conductor and bandleader at Shaffer Conservatory, he demands absolute perfection, and if he doesn't get it, he has no problem savaging his students and destroying their sense of self-esteem. Young jazz drummer Andrew Neiman accepts all the terror Fletcher inflicts on him, even as Fletcher's demands make the rest of his life fall apart. This is a taut, challenging movie with a pressure cooker atmosphere, and J. K. Simmons instantly makes Fletcher feel iconic.

• Starring: Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser

• Director: Damien Chazelle

• Year: 2014

• Runtime: 106 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Gaudy, mind-numbing excess takes center stage in "The Wolf of Wall Street," which chronicles the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, whose embrace of fraud and predatory tactics both make and break him. Jordan knows how to sell — especially when he can lie and manipulate as much as he wants — and he knows how to play the market to his own advantage. His unethical methods attract a whole bevy of employees who only care about success and the drugged-out decadence that comes with it ... but they also draw the attention of the FBI. This darkly comedic masterpiece of soulless greed is compulsively watchable.

• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

• Director: Martin Scorsese

• Year: 2013

• Runtime: 179 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%